Cambridge Select Insight: A Tutor’s Guide to What Parents Need to Know

Written by Michellejoy Hughes, Expert 11+ Tutor

With the change of the CEM exam to Cambridge Select Insight and evolving GL Assessment papers, choosing the right 11+ resources can feel overwhelming. 11+ Tutor Michellejoy Hughes shares how she uses Bond books to support students across both formats.

When there were two separate 11+ exam providers, CEM and GL Assessment, choosing learning materials and resources was simple. Nowadays, with many schools using a mixture of various exams, it can be more complicated. If your child is sitting the Cambridge Select Insight exam, Bond has an excellent range of resources in both book form and online. If you are not sitting the Cambridge Select Insight exam, it is worth nothing that there have also been significant changes to some of the GL Assessment 11+ areas, for which using some Bond CEM practice materials might be beneficial.

The Rise of Hybrid Exams: GL Assessment Meets CEM Skills

Many of the grammar schools that found the CEM 11+ exam useful in the past now offer an 11+ exam that is a blend of CEM skills in addition to traditional GL Assessment. In many ways, this blend has combined the best of both exam styles, but this has extended the skills needed by children to understand their paper.

It is more important than even to check with you school choices to know what skills are expected but below are some ideas that might help prepare your child in the best, most stress-free way.

Verbal Reasoning: Combining Resources for Stronger Skills

The GL Assessment verbal reasoning is different to CEM, so it is important to understand the GL Assessment techniques needed, but the CEM focus on vocabulary is a fantastic resource to help extend synonym and antonym knowledge. It is a great way of consolidating tricky skills such as anagrams and words with missing letters. Even if the question format is different, it is well worth including some CEM resources to strengthen and broaden GL Assessment skills.

Non-Verbal Reasoning: Why CEM Resources Still Shine

GL Assessment and CEM non-verbal reasoning have the same base set of questions, but the CEM-style questions include more spatial knowledge. This provides a strong bases for STEM subjects in secondary school and if your school is using additional NVR tests, then the Bond CEM NVR resources are a brilliant addition. I tend to use the CEM NVR Assessment Practice books with most of my children because I think this focus on spatial development is a central set of techniques to learn and hone. As these skills are not usually taught in schools, it is worth spending time on these books.

English and Maths: Building Depth and Flexibility

GL Assessment maths and English share the same KS2 National Curriculum subjects but in greater depth for the 11+. I use Bond Assessment Practice for all boards, and those specifically aimed at CEM/Cambridge Select Insight to prepare my students before they begin the test papers. It ensures that any question style can be solved rather than teaching to an exact format that might change.

Many children find comprehension difficult, but I find the English Assessment Practice books a useful addition alongside the Bond Comprehension Papers, and even the Bond SATs Comprehension books if a child needs more support.

How I Use Bond Books in My 11+ Tutoring

Bond have Handbooks for every 11+ subject to help a child learn how to best to answer each question type. This can take on the role of a tutor or it can be a useful guide to have at home to consolidate lesson techniques.

The Assessment Practice books are an excellent way of consolidation skills, and the 10-Minute Tests add variety and are a good way of keeping multiple 11+ subjects in constant use when a longer paper cannot be completed. If you only have the Assessment Practice books, I often divide up some of the papers into 10-minute sections so that a child can do all four 11+ subjects in 40 minutes. The variety can help children who struggle with sitting for a full-length paper. It is especially useful to use the CEM 10-Minute Test books alongside the more GL-focussed Assessment Practice books.

If any of my students are sitting the GL Assessment exam covering all four subjects, I use the Bond Assessment Practice books for English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning, and Non-verbal Reasoning, and the Bond CEM Assessment Practice in Non-verbal Reasoning for Lessons and homework. Once the core skills have been taught, a child moves to the next age book. At this point I will often include a CEM 10-Minute Tests book or a specific CEM skills book such as NVR 3D and Spatial to add interest and to cover new skills and techniques. For some children, they will use both books aimed more at GL Assessment and CEM depending on their exams, how much time they have, and how competitive a school they want to consider.

Blending for Success

Ultimately, we want our children to pass the 11+ exam, but more importantly to thrive in their secondary schools. For me, this means learning specific skills - whether it is solving anagrams or understanding 2D perspectives from a 3D shape – and consolidation of skills learnt in school from algebra to comprehension techniques. Blending GL Assessment and CEM resources encourages children to think in greater depth, and to develop a flexibility in their problem solving, logic, and reasoning skills.

To conclude, the Bond CEM resources have some wonderful ways to extend knowledge, to consolidate skills, and to add variety to the question types. Please do check the exam format that your school choices cover so that you know which subject or subjects your child needs to cover, and whether the paper is pure GL Assessment, or a more GL Assessment and CEM-style blend.

Remember that you don’t have to buy every Bond book in both formats – it would overload your child in addition to the unnecessary cost. Adding the most useful resources for your child based on their individual needs is the joy of using the Bond system. There is everything that you could possibly need, and plenty of signposting to help you decide which books to use.

Hopefully, the way that I use the Bond resources is a helpful starting point for you and your child.

Summary of this blog post

• Evolving 11+ Exams: With the shift from distinct CEM and GL Assessment exams to hybrid formats, choosing the right preparation materials has become more complex.
• Blended Skills Approach: Use Bond Assessment Practice books for structured techniques in English, Maths, Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning, and complement them with Bond CEM resources - especially for vocabulary-building and spatial reasoning – for further practice.
• Bond Resources in Tutoring: Bond’s Handbooks, Assessment Practice books, and 10-Minute Tests are versatile tools that support both exam styles and help tailor study plans.
• Smart Preparation Tips: Focus on skill-building over format memorization, mix resources based on your child’s needs, and always check the specific exam format of your target schools.

About Michellejoy Hughes

Michellejoy Hughes is a highly qualified and experienced teacher and tutor, with over 35 years’ experience in the education sector. Gaining her BA and PGCE in English at Liverpool and then her MA in English at Lancaster, Michellejoy spent many years working as a teacher in Liverpool, before becoming a private 11+ tutor. She is a qualified and experienced academic tester registered with the British Psychological Society leading to academic consultancy work. Michellejoy has helped over a thousand children prepare successfully, and to pass, the 11+.